3i, Blackstone & Carlyle In Fray For Lanco Arm - Private equity majors 3i, Blackstone and Carlyle have shown interest in buying a stake in the holding company to be formed by combining all Lanco Infratech's power assets. Debt-laden Lanco is forming a holding company and raising capital for its power plant by selling shares to investors. Some international power utilities such as E.ON, GDF Sues and AES Corporation have also shown interest in the transaction. The holding company could be valued as high as $2 billion and investors could buy stakes worth up to $500 million. (Economic Times)

ChrysCapital Raises $500M For New Fund - Amid tough market conditions, India-focused private equity firm, ChrysCapital has raised $500 million for a new fund, its first since it announced a major management transition last year. Founder and senior managing director Ashish Dhawan will leave the firm later this year. The new fund was raised from a several foreign investors, including endowments, pension and sovereign wealth funds. The new fund raised will focus on investments across diverse sectors. ChrysCapital has invested in more than 50 companies and manages a total corpus of $2.25 billion across five funds. (Economic Times)

New Silk Route May Buy Into Adiga's - The heightened global investor appetite for local cuisine may see Adiga's , a chain of south Indian vegetarian restaurants and fast food joints, offload shares to a private equity investor to fuel its expansion plans. The $1.4-billion New Silk Route Partners is holding talks to buy a big stake in the K N Vasudev Adiga-promoted restaurant network, valuing the Bangalore-based family run company at about Rs 200 crore. Adiga's , which gained high visibility in the last decade, made news when it was chosen by Infosys co-founder and chairman emeritus, N R Naryana Murthy, to cater for the wedding functions of his daughter, Akshata, in Bangalore. (Times of India)

Karuturi To Form JV With Sugar Major - Karuturi Global, the Bangalore-based publicly-held agri-commodities and flower exporter, is set to seal a joint venture with a leading sugar producer from India as part of its massive expansion in Ethiopia into agri-commodities. The idea is to develop 5,000 TCD (tonnes crushed per day) which will require about 15,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations and the plant may cost in the range of about Rs 400 crore. (Business Standard)

Tata Communications Steps Up For Cable & Wireless Bid - Tata Communications has raised the stakes in the £1-billion battle for Britain's Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW), ahead of the bid deadline this week. The company has hired Morgan Stanley to work alongside Standard Chartered, its long-term adviser, as it considers whether to table a firm offer by this Thursday's cut-off. Tata Communications has amassed a £1.26 billion war chest as it prepares to go head to head with Vodafone for the troubled CWW. (Business Standard)

GVFL Raises Rs 380Cr For Golden Gujarat Growth Fund-I - Venture capital GVFL Ltd, which launched its seventh fund on Saturday, announced the first closure of Rs 380 crore in December 2011. The fund, known as Golden Gujarat Growth Fund-I, is targeting a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. The Gujarat Government is the sponsor of the Fund with a commitment of Rs 200 crore (20% of the Fund). The other investors include LIC of India with a commitment of Rs 100 crore and major financial institutions and leading banks in India. (Business Line)

Thermax Acquires Virgo Unit - Thermax has acquired Virgo Valves & Controls India's steam division for Rs 13.39 crore. The buy also includes the steam unit's German subsidiary Rifox-Hans Richter. Rifox, headquartered in Bremen, Germany, is a leading steam traps and steam accessories manufacturer. Virgo's steam division is at Chakan, near Pune. Pune-based Thermax is a leading provider of energy and environment solutions. (Business Line)